Missing student's parents file complaint against police

Jack O’Sullivan has been missing for 100 days

The parents of missing Jack O'Sullivan say they have lodged a formal complaint against the police over its handling of his disappearance.

It is now 100 days since Bristol student Jack - who was 22 at the time - vanished after a night out in the city.

His parents say their ordeal has been made much worse by Avon and Somerset Police, which is responsible for finding Jack, and they have lost all faith in officers' attempts to locate him.

Avon and Somerset Police said it "fully recognises the distress and anguish" his family are going through, and officers are "determined to do all that we possibly can".

'CCTV was missed'

The force added the family's complaint has been recorded and is being assessed, and the family will be updated.

Jack's family say that mistakes were made early on in the search for him and say that CCTV footage, placing him in a different location - at a different time - was initially missed.

It was only found by Jack's Mum Catherine, when she was allowed to view some of it for herself.

"To have footage of my son in their possession the day after he was missing and for someone not to see that is just ludicrous," she said.

"And we have to live with that...thinking what would have possibly been different here if on that second day, the whole world knew that he was there - and we could have appealed to people."

Jack was last seen in the early hours of 2 March

Jack went to school in Bristol, before studying and graduating from Exeter University then returning to Bristol to continue his studies.

He was living with his parents and close to his older brother Ben at the time of his disappearance.

The night Jack went missing, he had been at a house party with friends from his course. He had left in the early hours of the morning.

Data shows that his phone was still in use hours after he was last seen on CCTV. But despite repeated requests by his family to try and find out more about what it was being used for - they say, the police have drawn a blank.

Ben O'Sullivan says this is a real issue.

"We've been told for weeks and weeks that there is the possibility of the National Crime Agency helping and providing their resources, but despite asking...there still has been no progress.

"I've been trying my best to help - but I'm the first to admit, I'm not a tech expert. And you would hope that Avon & Somerset would have the resources for me not to be involved."

Footage shows someone walking along Bennett Way on the north side of the River Avon

The family was also distraught to find out last week, that an administrative error within the police force, meant Jack had not been added to the national Missing People's Register until he had been missing for more than two months.

"The errors that have cast so much doubt in our mind about what was done, when it was done and whether it continues to be done has caused us untold damage" says Catherine O'Sullivan.

"I wouldn't want anyone on earth to be faced with what we've dealt with in the last 100 days, because it is horrific.

"We have to live with the fact that Jack's not here, but to find that the people who could have been looking for him haven't done it properly is just devastating"

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesperson said: "This investigation has included reviewing and re-reviewing more than 100 hours of CCTV footage, carrying out expert-led searches by land and water involving multiple teams, including the dog unit, drone unit and specialist dive team, proactively seeking and acting on advice from national policing specialists, and issuing multiple appeals to the public and media for information.

"Sadly, despite these efforts we’ve been unable to find Jack to date.

"We fully recognise the distress and anguish this has had on Jack’s family and our thoughts remain very much with them," they added.

"We’re determined to do all that we possibly can to find the answers they so desperately need."